


Makeover

by joatlas



Category: Torchwood
Genre: F/F, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:48:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28431927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joatlas/pseuds/joatlas
Summary: When Gwen arrives at work with a new look, Toshiko, who has a secret crush on her, is convinced she got a makeover to finally seduce Jack. But she may have been wrong.
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Toshiko Sato, background Jack/Ianto
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Makeover

**Author's Note:**

> Not extraordinary but just a short little thing I wrote before I work on something larger.

Toshiko and Owen were having their usual lunch when Gwen arrived. By usual lunch, they meant each eating a sandwich at their desk at the same time and making very vague small talk. Gwen made an impression when she arrived. She was striking. Tight leather pants she had never seen her wear before, fresh haircut, new jacket, makeup significantly nicer than her usual. Toshiko immediately thought, well she thought that just after thinking “she’s so hot it makes me die inside a little”, that she had a date, or a new guy. After all, her and Rhys had broken up two weeks ago, she was allowed a little makeover, it was understandable. But then Toshiko remembered they were all planning to get drinks together tonight. Well, perhaps she planned to ditch, which she would understand since the Torchwood’s staff socializing outside of work went from slightly agreeable to plain weird very quickly. Owen visibly had the same train of thought than Toshiko did (and probably, hoped to ditch as well) because when Gwen went to greet them, the first thing he asked her was : 

“So Gwen, ditching us for a nice date tonight, I recon?”  
“Ditch you guys? And miss drunk Ianto again? No way.”

They all laughed. Owen probably thought “fair enough”, but Toshiko wasn’t that blind, she knew that however well it was disguised, Gwen clearly dressed up for something, or someone. Bets were on, though, she clearly had an idea of who it was and quickly glanced at the windows of Jack’s office up above, where he was pondering some files. 

“Love the pants.” She said with a quick smile, before looking down and munching on her sandwich again.  
“Thanks Tosh.” Gwen shrugged and put her hands in her pocket.

It was awkward for an instant and she regretted the comment. They were good colleagues and, Toshiko would like to think, good friends, but they weren’t the kind of girl friends who talk about clothes and makeup and boys and go shopping together, like Gwen did with her other friends, outside of work. Not their vibe, and not just because Toshiko had a big secret crush on her, but when they hung out it was often when something bad had happened. They drank beers, watched TV to forget it and talked about sad things, about their life. They couldn’t really do the casual friendship things. Then again, Tosh never really had any friends like that, even when she was a teenager. It was always just her maths and her computers, her overbearing parents and sometimes one or two friends from school she did projects with. She’d never been very social. 

Some time passed and Toshiko found herself alone in the archive room later in the day, searching for something Torchwood had uncovered decades ago, about a possible time breach in an abandoned cottage outside of town. Though she couldn’t help thinking about Gwen. Getting a new haircut for Jack, like, anyone knew you didn’t really have to bother so much to seduce him. Ouch, mean spirited of her to think that, a hint of jealousy she could feel slightly pinching her heart. _Stop that nonsense Tosh_ , she told herself. Gwen entering the room helped her snap out of it rather quickly. 

“Hey Tosh, can I have a word?”  
“Yeah.” She tried not to stare at Gwen’s red lips for too long as she got very close to her.  
“It’s about tonight.”  
“Hmm.” Tosh nodded, staring at another row of files. “You dressed up.”  
“I’ve done a lot of thinking, the Rhys thing… Time to move on. Start a new chapter.”

Toshiko didn’t really know how to respond to that, but she sure hoped Gwen wasn’t asking her for relationship advice. Certainly the last person in this building she should ask. Well, maybe except for Owen. Thankfully, Gwen continued on her own. 

“I hope it’s not strange, or anything, if I…”  
“Nope. Not strange. Fine.” Toshiko immediately cut her off. She wasn’t keen on hearing her deep thoughts about Jack and her.   
“Are you sure? I don’t wanna make the atmosphere weird around here. Well, weird-er.” She chuckled.  
“I said it’s fine. I don’t think anyone would mind. Why are you asking me this?”

Gwen seems panicked for an instant. Did she really think that her crush on Jack wasn’t that obvious? Whatever was going on, Tosh didn’t really know the specifics of it, but it was clear to absolutely everyone in this office. 

“I just… want to be sure that if I had feelings for someone here and I wanted to let them know, that you wouldn’t think it’s a bad thing, you know for work reasons?”  
“Wouldn’t be the first time it happened.”  
“You weren’t really on board with me and Owen.”

_No, because I adore you and he’s a creep._

“I thought you said feelings.” 

Toshiko smirked and Gwen smirked back, they stared at each other for two long seconds before they burst into laughter. 

“Oh shut up.” Gwen rolled her eyes, still laughing. “Well, great then, I’ll see you at the pub.” She got red on the cheeks, which made Tosh want to sigh. “I mean you and, the others, you know.”

One awkward evening, Toshiko could survive that. What was the worst that could happen? If it ended badly, she’ll just take Gwen home and stroke her hair and make her food while she complained about Jack being unable to be straightforward with his feelings. Opposite scenario, she’ll have to watch them make out, or something. Either way, she’d seen worse, though she’d gladly take some ugly aliens over this, in all honesty.

It took her a couple more hours in the archive room, and when she left it, it seemed everyone had gone. They knew not to wait for her, it annoyed her and she was often the last to leave anyways. But as she looked up, she saw Jack was actually still in his office. She went up the stairs and crossed her arms.

“Still here? Not at the pub with the others?”  
“Yeah, I don’t think I’m going.”  
“Why?!” Tosh realized a little late that she said that slightly aggressively. “I mean, they probably expect you.”  
“I’m just a little busy here. Some stuff Gwen and I found this morning on a car crash site. Symbols.” He showed her some papers and Toshiko walked behind the desk to look at them for a moment. “I’ve seen them somewhere.”  
“I’ll stay here. Decipher these, do some research, I can tell you what I found tomorrow.”

He looked at her strangely, before he smiled. 

“Ah, sorry, I’m bullshitting you.” He chuckled. “I mean, I actually do plan on studying these symbols for a few hours but after that Ianto is coming to help, with his uhm… extensive knowledge of semantics.”  
“His extensive knowledge of semantics, uh?” She rolled her eyes and smiled. 

Some part of her was weirdly hurt by that, on behalf of Gwen and all that effort she’d made for nothing. 

“Please Jack, leave now. Go have a drink. Relax. I’ll stay and look at what we might have in the servers. Do it for me, please. Take these papers with you if you want expert advice from Ianto so bad. He’ll be glad I’m sure.” 

She had said the last part sarcastically, though Ianto shared her and Jack’s habit of not being able to get their head out of work even when they were supposed to have some time to themselves, so he surely might be glad. Jack seemed to wonder why Toshiko was so eager to force him to leave, as he frowned while she said all of that, but didn’t ask her any questions.

“Alright, fine, I’ll go.”

He took his coat off the rack and put it on.

“Meet us later, right?” He said, and put his hand on her shoulders. “You can relax too, you know.”  
“I’ll try to make it.” 

She smiled and watched him leave as silence fell on the lab. She liked being alone there. All the possibilities open, left to her thought, piles of alien tech to examine, it was her home more than her home was. She tried to immerse herself into researching the strange symbols drawn on the car, so that she would forget to think about what was happening at the pub. Everytime she stopped working for even two seconds it was all she thought about. Poor her and her helpless crush. Wasn’t Gwen’s fault that she didn’t think of her that way. She couldn’t help hurting, though, a little. Soon enough, it would vanish, if she ignored it enough. But sometimes Toshiko felt like she would be alone forever. She wondered if there was anyone for her out there, who would appreciate her, despite her coldness, her obsessions and her flaws. She found that more and more impossible the older she got.

Soon enough, she found it, the same symbols in a burned flat, three years ago. Ruled out as an accident, so Torchwood was never sent on the scene, but the pictures had made their way around the internet. Doubtful now that it was any incident. She was printing the pictures when she heard the door of the lab open.   
Gwen was standing there. 

“Gwen? Everything all right?” She asked, worried. 

Couldn’t be a good sign for her Jack endeavours if she was back at Torchwood, and that early. 

“Yes. Jack told me you stayed here.”  
“Yeah.” Toshiko smiled. “I helped you out, he was about to stay here and work, I convinced him to go instead of me.”  
“Wh… What do you mean helped me out?” Gwen walked towards her, looking a little flushed (alcohol, surely) and prettier than ever.   
“Well, you dressed up for him and everything, couldn’t let that be for nothing.”  
“For him? Tosh…”  
“Not only for him, but you know, the new chapter thing, I had to give you your chance to tell him how you feel, even though he seemed hellbent on spending some quality time with Ianto tonight. You never really know though, he always had a thing for you too.”  
“Tosh, Tosh. Stop.” Gwen made a gesture of her hand. Toshiko frowned. 

Gwen crossed her arms and stared at her for what seemed like an eternity.

“I wasn’t talking about Jack.”  
“What?”  
“The thing about feelings. I wasn’t talking about Jack.”  
“Really? But you said…”  
“You really thought I would ask you for your permission to date Jack?”  
“Is this about Owen because I am not doing this ag...”  
“You are ridiculous.”

Now that all made no sense.

“Tosh, I was talking about you.” As she said that, she took her hand and squeezed it. “I thought it was clear, I thought you said you’d like that.”  
“Not clear.” Toshiko managed to say as her heart was racing. 

Gwen slowly approached her face from hers, waited to see her reaction and then softly kissed her lips. 

“Clear enough, now?”

Toshiko smiled wide, as if the whole world around her was a field of flowers. 

“Crystal.”

She pulled Gwen towards her and kissed her with desperation.


End file.
